When a customer wishes to obtain a warranty on an item that the customer currently owns or is planning to purchase, the customer typically has limited options regarding the features and price of the warranty. For example, if a customer wishes to buy an extended warranty to cover the customer's automobile after the manufacturer's warranty expires, the customer is often limited to an extended warranty option offered by the manufacturer or a retailer. The coverage of the offered warranty may be too broad or too narrow, or the price of the warranty may be too high, to meet the customer's particular needs. However, the customer typically does not have the option to customize the warranty or to bargain over the price of the warranty to meet these needs. These problems are exacerbated further when the warranty the customer seeks is not a type of warranty that is typically provided by the manufacturer or retailer.